France on Wednesday expressed "strong support" for India and the other G4 countries in their bid for a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council.

The reiteration of backing by France came after India's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu, on Monday wrote a letter to President of the 74th Session of the General Assembly, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande.

In the letter, Naidu said the intergovernmental negotiations on Security Council reform are being "held hostage" and used as a "convenient smokescreen" by countries that do not wish to see any changes in the most powerful UN organ.
 

"France strongly supports India and the G4 in their bid for a permanent seat in a reformed UNSC," French Ambassador to India Emmaneul Lenain said in a tweet.

He also tagged a media report on India and the other G4 countries -- Brazil, Germany and Japan -- to call for expediting the process for reforming the UN Security Council.

India will join the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021.

India has been at the forefront of the years-long efforts to reform the Security Council saying it rightly deserves a place as a permanent member of the Council, which in its current form does not represent the geo-political realities of the 21st century.